Building SECURE Next Generation Networks and Systems

What makes secure infrastructure a prime requirement for the successful launch of Next Generation Services?

The world of communications has evolved. From good old PSTN to new age IP networks, the transformation has seen more than its fair share of challenges. Telecom companies are redefining the context of being “infrastructure” players – from voice, data and Internet services of the past to video, converged services, online business infrastructure components (e-wallet, authentication, storage) which enable B2B and B2C applications to profligate.

This transformation is business driven; it’s not solely driven by the technological changes that have enabled service transformation of POT’s (Plain-Old-Telephone-Systems) voice to VoIP.The focus is on new revenue streams to counter-decline voice revenue,reduction in OPEX to boost profitability and enhancement of the telecoms ability to attract and create new sources of revenue outside traditional business models.

The transformation journey is far reaching in scale and complexity. Telecom companies today invest significant time and resources in getting the new technology (SOA and Networks) to work and perform, and in the upgradation of the legacy OSS and BSS for new business requirements, they tend to pay limited attention to security.

New protocols for VOIP and B2B gateways bring in new challenges. New services like IPTV where regulatory pressures on securing adult content at customer premises or the mobility of consumers from GSM to Wireless LAN for voice services which require enhanced online
authentication are changing both the nature of the process by which telecoms are secured and the security components used by Telecom companies.

Tech Mahindra’s Security Practice understands that telecoms require a new security fabric altogether. The old fabric was tattered and patchwork would not result in the timely launch of new age services. Telecom companies additionally required to adopt a new mind-set and realize that their inhouse security competence was reduced due to years of being a back-end support function. Most telecoms would have a very competent network and IT security team, but would find it difficult to mitigate risks at SOA and application level.

For securing the next generation network, a new approach is needed which can look beyond the traditional network security and encompass every facet of the NGN architecture and the resulting new business paradigm.

There are five facets to ensure a secure NGN.
These are:

• To create a secure IT security environment for networks and systems
• To create and implement a process to design secure networks and systems
• To create and implement a process to securely build and deploy networks and systems
• To build new security components for authentication, fraud detection and security management
• To create a secure environment and make customers or partners aware of security

Tech Mahindra has developed a comprehensive set of services to assist our customers in building these five critical facets. We have assisted our customers to design,build and operate security systems as well as provided an end-to-end suite of services which cover:

• Secure IT Environment (Management, Operation, Platforms and IT networks)
• Telecom Network Security (Access and Converged Core)
• Service Execution and Management Applications (OSS, BSS, SOA)
• Network and Application Disaster Recovery
• Building specific components for Security and Fraud (Centralized Authentication)